Saturday, December 31, 2011

Since 2009, the HALO (Helping And Leading Others) awards have been honoring teens who work to make the world a better place. For the big night, celebrities like Taylor Swift, David Beckham, Lady Gaga, Ashton Kutcher, and host Nick Cannon come together to give some amazing teens the recognition they deserve.

Well, I might not have a primetime TV slot or a vault full of prize money, but I’m not going to let that stop me from raising my blog glass to some toast-worthy teens, starting right now!

Emily-Ann Rigal, 2011 HALO Honoree

Because of her weight, Emily-Anne was bullied to the point where she felt her only option was to switch schools. Vowing she would do everything she could to keep others from going through the same thing, in 2010 Emily took to the web and created WeStopHate.org, a teen-run website to combat bullying through social media videos created for teens by teens which now has over 500,000 members!

Emily-Anne also travels the country giving presentations and helping others design anti-bullying campaigns, as well as continuing to spread her message of self-worth with inspirational notes, quotes, and photos to her audience several times a day. Emily-Anne and WeStopHate truly give teens a voice; for more information, check out the site: WeStopHate.org

Do you know a toast-worthy teen you’d like to see featured here at BWATE?

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The ice cream cone. Such a universal, charming, easy sweet. It was born (according to some lore) at the Exposition in St. Louis, 1904, when an ice cream vendor ran out of cups and turned to a neighboring vendor for a rolled waffle, and...voila! The creation of an American original.

My first novel, Faithful, is set in the summer of 1904, so naturally I had to incorporate the cone in a scene of romantic discovery:

Yet I wanted to reach across the table – right then, reach my arm over both our ice creams – and lift that lock of hair off his forehead and see him smile for me. Only for me. I would have followed his sea eyes into the bear’s teeth.

He glanced up. “Good?” His index finger pointed at my ice cream, now dripping down my fingers while I mooned.

Now, really. Who has not experienced romance over ice cream?

Historical fiction demands historical foods. In Faithful I also incorporated a dinner of planked whitefish (which I found on an ordinary menu from the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel of the early 1900s). This was not a special menu item, but one served to any of the tourists who dined at the Hotel in those times. I hoped to make a statement: that my heroine Maggie Bennet, brought to a lower rank by circumstance, could eat like everyman, and that was just fine.

In my second novel, Forgiven, set in 1906, I used food to make the opposite distinction. Kula Baker has been raised in a lower class situation and pines for something more. But what she finds is unsustaining (and awkward, given her unaccustomed corset):

The orchestra played waltzes, and waiters slid through with trays of delicacies – a seafood (shrimp, according to Miss Everts’s whisper), a pastry filled with small black nubbins (caviar, Miss Everts called it), and, of all the awful things, snails. Due to my constrained condition and the peculiarity of these dishes, I declined to eat.

Which leads her to an overabundance of punch, which leads her to an awkward moment and a life-altering discovery. Who hasn’t been at a party and seen items served that, honestly, were gag-worthy? And who has not run romantic risks when confronted with an alcoholic beverage on an empty stomach?

Food defines status; food defines circumstance. But we all have to eat. I feel it is part of my job as author to incorporate foods that define the times about which I write, but that in addition my readers can use to relate to their own experience.

Janet Fox is the author of books for children and
young adults. Faithful (Speak/Penguin, 2010), set
in Yellowstone National Park in 1904, was a YALSA
Best Fiction for YA nominee and an Amelia Bloomer
List pick, 2011. Forgiven (2011, Speak), set in 1906
San Francisco during the great earthquake, is a
Junior Library Guild selection, 2011. Janet has
numerous MG and YA projects underway including
another YA novel, set in 1925, due out 2013. She is
a former high school English teacher and received

her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults
in 2010 (Vermont College of Fine Arts). Janet lives
in Bozeman, Montana.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

What if the sun just went out? I reckon that’d hit me pretty hard – hard enough to knock me into the wine fridge, where I’d hit some bottles even harder. Hey, no sun means it’s 5 o’clock everywhere, right?

But once I’ve drained the cellar, then what? Venture out to stores where the shelves’ve been cleared by those who hit the bottles hardest? Eventually all the barrels in the world will be emptied, and, with no sun, we won’t be able to grow more grapes to replenish the supply! Nor will there be sugar cane, or agave for tequila. Not even hops for beer, which I actually can’t stand, but desperate times and all; I know I can’t think of a darker day than Sun-Out, and I bet many adults will feel the same way.

And this is where the children come in – they’ll save the world, of course.

You see, I heard about this blog hop right before I picked my 7-year-old up from school, so I asked him what he would do if the sun stopped shining. His immediate reaction was that we’d have to launch an orbiting fire ball – a replacement sun. As we talked through the difficulty of containing said fireball, plus getting it into orbit and keeping it lit remotely, he realized we might be thinking too big. So his next idea was more manageable and quicker to implement – using many flames right here on Earth, with mirrors to direct their light and heat. Then he said, “While everybody’s making that work, the astronauts can work on re-lighting the sun.” Because he wasn’t satisfied with just a “fix” – he wanted a complete solution. And you read that he’s seven, right?

So maybe we grown-ups don’t have to worry so much about the sun going out, after all. We just have to keep stocking our bars…and preschools. ;)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Food in books. What an original topic! I don’t think I’ve ever read a post where the author talked about what their characters ate and what they like to eat. But hey, food is important. Hmm. I have to admit, Dez doesn’t eat too much during DESTINY’S FIRE. She spends a lot of time sparring with Jace, trying to figure out Reese, and keeping away from the Narcos.

But when she does slow down, she likes burgers. And chocolate milkshakes. This is probably her favorite food, and she really likes to dip her fries in her shake. Strange? Probably. But the salty mix with sweetness does it for her. Kind of like the difference between Jace and Reese, and what she loves about them . . . yet just wants them to stop fighting long enough so she can have them both in her life at the same time.

Here’s a quick teaser during one of her burger eating scenes:

I opened my menu as the waitress approached our table. She held a small tablet. “What are we having today?”

I quickly scanned the menu. “I'll take a burger and shake.”

Reese ordered the same, and she punched our order into her tablet. She turned to go, but I called out, “Um, wait.” She sidled back up to our table. “Are you the only one working the floor today? Normally there're a few girls…” My face flamed as I trailed off. I wasn't trying to embarrass her. I was only curious.

“Yeah, I am.” She rolled her eyes. “No one else showed up for work today except a few of the kitchen staff.” She blew her blond bangs off her forehead. “Not happy about that, but it's dead anyway.” She shrugged and bounced off.

“Weird,” I muttered. I checked out Reese's reaction, and I knew he felt the strangeness, too. There was something not right. I didn't know how I knew, but I could sense it.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

This hop, organized by Oasis for YA, The Daily Harrell, and I Am A Reader, Not A Writer, features almost 300 (!) participating blogs offering book-related giveaways! We're all linked up together so you can hop easily from one giveaway to another; see the full list here: Mid-Winter's Eve Giveaway Hop.

Winner here at BWATE? gets a Signed Copy of either:
"Solid" (Solid Series Book #1) or "Settling" (Solid #2)

To enter to win, just follow this blog and leave a comment/question,
along with a way to contact you.

Good Lord, who doesn't enjoy a gooey yummy delicious treat?That is what I think about when I think about books. I love food and tend to use a lot of those references when describing what I'm reading or writing. I grew up in a kitchen reading while my Gran showed me how to cook. I learned to associate food with good and bad memories. We celebrated in the kitchen and we came together to cope with pain and loss in the kitchen. I learned to throw my feelings and passions into creating food, each dish showcasing what I was feeling. I owe all that to my Gran who took something as simple as basic as food and showed me a form of art that got my creative skills working. I don't think I would be the writer I am today without learning from her how to express things in food. So hats off to my Grandmother who is 101 years old and still living well.

My debut novel, The Promise, is centered in the world of witchcraft. Not Wicca, but real witchcraft. Wicca is more of a religion and witchcraft, at least for the intents and purposes of the book, doesn't need prayers and deities. Instead, it uses the Elements around them to manipulate magic. The more I developed the concept, the more I realized that it was like being back in my Gran's kitchen. Witchcraft needs ingredients to create spells and potions, just like any good recipe does. So I sat down and planned out my spells just as I did any menu I create for an event or special dinner. It all came together nicely for me once I realized I could pull from all those kitchen memories.

My main character, Cassie, is like a good wine. She has layers upon layers of flavor to her. With each chapter, another piece of her complex personality unfolds, just like the flavor of a good wine that rolls and wraps around your tongue. She's sweet, innocent, yet saucy and more than a little sassy. Her story is one of discovery about who she is, her past, her present, and what her future could hold. You could think it of it as a seven course meal. Each element of the meal tells a story that leads into the next course. The Promise is as at heart a mystery and in almost every chapter you get hints of the truth, and the more questions you get answered, it leads you to even more questions, right up until the very end of the book. Each chapter leads into the next course and the final course, while delicious, still leaves you with just a hint of longing for a second helping of the luscious dessert.

Now what would a YA book be without a love interest? In walks Mr. Melt In Your Mouth Gorgeous, Ethan Warren. From the second she meets him, she's fascinated with his rich dark chocolaty hair and searing gray eyes. His voice is rich like dark chocolate and his eyes can make her melt like butter on the hottest summer day with just a glance. The more times she spends with him, the more she craves her own personal M&M. Ethan is like one of those dishes you see, it looks fabulous, tastes like Heaven, but you know if you start to ask questions about the ingredients that make up the dish, you'll fear you will become ill because you know it's not something you'd normally eat. So it is with Ethan. He looks like a yummy delicious sweet but you know if you start digging, you'll uncover something you'd never in your life eat. But the question is after you've tasted the Ambrosia that is the dish, would you care what was in it? That is the question that faces Cassie and one that she is forced to answer.

My favorite character in the book is Neighbor Boy Jeff. He has lived next door to Cassie since she was born. He started out as a background character, but wrote himself into the book. He became Cassie's anchor, her life raft in a sea of lies. He was her strength and the more she leaned on him, the stronger her feelings became for him. He grew on her so to speak much like blue cheese grows on you, lol. I have a fondness for cheese fries and blue cheese sauce. I hated the taste of blue cheese to start with, but the more I tasted it, the better I liked it. Jeff was like that. The more he popped up in the story, the more I liked him. He wove himself into the novel and Cassie's heart, he grew on her.

There are a huge number of people who want her with Jeff and just as many who want her with Ethan. Personally, I still haven't made up my mind as to whom she will end up with in the long run. I want to let it grow and see where the stories take me. Who knows what sort of nonsense will ensue over the next few books and how much her feelings can and will change for either or both of them. Time will tell.

Either way, I'll keep writing the tales of the Coven with a warm cup of cocoa and piece of chocolate cheese cake to get me through the worst of my writer's block. I hope anyone who reads The Promise comes away happy, sated, and wanting more.

Thank you for having me and listening to my ramblings. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Abandoned at birth, shuffled from foster home to foster home, Bron has never known how it feels to belong, be cared about, or cared for. His bleak childhood is perhaps best instanced by his latest foster mother's hoarding of all delicious and nutritious delicacies, relegating Bron and his 8 foster siblings to pathetic pancakes - food that's about as bland and unnourishing as it gets.

When, at 16, he's kicked out of Melvina's house - allegedly for stealing peaches to eat - and sent to live with the Hernandezes, he's afraid he'll have to eat burritos at every meal - the Mexican equivalent of the pancake regime he's been stuck with. But instead he finds every food a delight, from barbecue chicken to omelets filled with fresh tomatoes, sharp gorgonzola, smoky ham, and pine nuts. And Olivia Hernandez nourishes his spirit as well by recognizing something special in Bron - that he is something her people call a "Nightingale," a creature not quite human.

As part of his new foray into self-discovery, he meets the Weigher of Lost Souls - an ancient woman with marvelous powers - on an elegant houseboat where he's served a gourmet vegetable lasagna made with sun-dried tomatoes, eggplant, and some of the world's rarest mushrooms. The food whispers to Bron that he is about to enter a world that is richer and more exotic than anything he has ever dreamed of...and one that he may never return from.

Because despite all the delicious wonder this new world has to offer, Bron still needs answers to the mystery of his birth: What am I? Where did I come from? He must now risk his life to defeat the epic forces that have combined to claim him, to tear him from the only home, family, and girlfriend he has ever known.

Sound good? Looks even better! The book trailer is made up of art, animation, and music that is actually taken from the enhanced novel, setting the tone for the story.

When you’ve taken a good look, just email David your opinion of the trailer, putting “Drawing 34” in the subject line. That’s it! He wants real reader input and is dying to hear what you have to say. :)

The winner will be chosen December 19th and will receive the web edition of the Nightingale enhanced novel. (iPad or Kindle not necessary; entire book, including music and animations, can be experienced from any computer. Good luck!

David Farland is the international bestselling author of nearly fifty books, including such award-winning novels as the science fiction masterpiece On My Way to Paradise (Philip K. Dick Memorial Special Award Winner, Best Novel in English Language) and the historical novel In the Company of Angels (Whitney Award Winner: Best Novel of the Year). He is best known though for his fantasy work, which includes the New York Times bestselling series The Runelords, and his lovable and wacky middle-grade fantasy series Ravenspell.

In addition to writing novels, Dave has also worked in videogames on such international bestselling games as Starcraft: Brood Wars, and Xena: The Talisman of Fate.

And, through his work as coordinating judge of the Writers of the Future, as a creative writing instructor at Brigham Young University, and by teaching writing seminars, Dave has worked extensively helping new writers. Many of his students have gone on to become some of the most successful writers of our time, including such #1 international bestsellers as Brandon Sanderson, Brandon Mull, and Stephenie Meyer.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Moon Realm is a dangerous place, as Lily and Jasper Winter know full well from listening to their Uncle Ebb's many bedtime tales. Flying dragons. Stomping giants. Troublesome Faeries. Horse-sized, catlike Rinn: eyes the size of dinner plates, razor-sharp claws, mouth full of pointy teeth. (You really don't want to be standing next to one when its tummy is rumbling. Trust me.) And it's not just Lily and Jasper who have to be careful. Take the wyflings, who look like child-sized otters with clothes. Quite snack-able by Rinn standards. In this scene, Nimlinn, a very important Rinn, is nearing her breaking point as she commands Snerliff and Twizbang, both wyflings, to complete a task they deem full of future peril.

Snerliff eyed the pair of clipping shears—in his own hand!—as though it were a poisonous snake. “You want us to do what?” he shrieked.
Nimlinn's eyes narrowed. “Groom me for saddle,” she said, her voice simmering.
“But—” yelped Twizbang, “Greydor will eat us!”
“No!” bellowed Nimlinn. And then, speaking more quietly, “He may want to eat you, but I would never allow that.”

Sometimes, in the Moon Realm, the one doing the eating is much more gratified than those surrounding him. Take this scene, in which Marred, a human and a dragon slayer, shares his love for a peculiar . . . delicacy?

He held up his prize triumphantly.
“The igniter organ!” he announced, looking very pleased. “You wanna talk spicy?” He rubbed his stomach for emphasis.
“I think I'm going to be sick,” said Boots, placing a hand over his stomach and turning away from the sight. He wasn't the only one.
“They're best pickled,” Marred explained to Lily, rummaging through a pack by the fire and pulling out an earthenware jar. The jar fizzed loudly when he opened it, and its odor caused all in the immediate vicinity to scatter. Quib, though, with a dreamy look in his eyes, smacked his lips hungrily.
Marred popped the organ into the liquid and recapped the jar.

Being a vegetarian can be pretty tough going in the Moon Realm, as Lily finds out at her first meal. In this scene, Quib, a man on a mission to see his crew well fed, tries to wrap his mind around the idea of being a vegetarian.

Lily chose this moment to step out of the darkness and into the firelight. “Just beans for me,” she said brightly. Her stomach was empty, but not that empty.
An odd stare flitted across Quib's elfin features.
“No dragon chili?” he asked, clearly not understanding.
But it was impossible to keep Quib's spirits down for long. “Don't you worry, lassie,” he said, a big grin filling his face. “We'll have this critter stripped to the bone in no time. As the youngest, you can have the first bowl of dragon's blood pudding. And that's a promise!”
Lily blanched.
“Of course,” Quib went on, “the meat closest to the bone is the best.”
Lily shook her head, confusing Quib.
“Plenty . . . to . . . go around?” he said.
“Just beans, if you don't mind.”
“Well, suit yourself,” he said, and he turned to those around him and began barking orders.

And Quib isn't a man to give up easily, especially when there's such good grub to be had.

The afternoon passed quickly. Lunch was a small bowl of mildewed beans. Lily had a terrible time explaining to Quib what it meant to be a vegetarian. He kept saying things like, “Well, I could spare you a bit o' brains. They're not meat, right?” and “At least let me ladle on a good heapin' bit o' the grease, eh? No meat in that!” Twice, Lily had to grab his ladle and push it away from her bowl. “But how will you grow?” he asked.

As their adventure in the Moon Realm continues, Lily and Jasper will have to avoid things a lot worse than Quib's ladle o' grease if they want to remain vegetarians. Do you think the Rinn eat beans? Not likely! (Come to think of it, maybe that's for the best!)

Thanks for stopping by and sharing some food for thought, Richard!

Richard Due (pronounced “Dewey”) first imagined the Moon Realm
while telling bedtime tales to his children. He makes his home in
Southern Maryland, where he and his wife owned and operated Second Looks Books, an independent used bookstore, for the past twenty years. The Moon Coin is the first novel in the Moon Realm series.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

This hop, organized by Kid Lit Frenzy and I Am A Reader, Not A Writer, features almost 300 (!) participating blogs offering book-related giveaways! We're all linked up together so you can hop easily from one giveaway to another; see the full list here: Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop.

Winner here at BWATE? gets a Signed Copy of either:
"Solid" (Solid Series Book #1) or "Settling" (Solid #2)

To enter to win, just follow this blog and leave a comment/question,
along with a way to contact you.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

What if you were a time traveler and went back a thousand years into the past? How much of a concern would food be for you? What present-day foods would you miss the most? In my novel, Caught In Time, my main character, Rowyna, travels back into Alysia's Medieval past, and sure enough some of her earliest thoughts are about the food. Would they have chocolate?

Excerpt:

When she had been told that she would go back into the past, she had considered the problems of language, culture and dress, but she hadn't counted on missing certain things so much taken for granted. Comfortable transportation, cold refreshments, proper sanitary conditions, central heating, eatable food, and just being safe were a few things that came to mind. Now she wondered about something as simple as the food. How did they keep the food from spoiling in this primitive place? How about ice cream? What about chocolate? They can't not have chocolate! Rowyna's body took a lurch at the memory of her favorite vice.

Rowyna is invited to dine with the king and is expecting an intimate dinner, but instead arrives at a large banquet where the food is used as a barrier between them and a distraction from her purpose. The king puts her at the far end of the table and a myriad of guest between them. Then he demonstrates his wealth and power by the abundance of food that he offers everyone.

Excerpt:

Dinner arrived diverting his attention. It was an elaborate affair that started with fresh sturgeon eggs from the Andalusian Ocean along with an assortment of crisp crackers. In addition, around the edge of colorful goblets dangled succulent shrimp from the Eastern Sea and inside each goblet was a piquant dipping sauce.

As each guest finished, servants slid a large dinner plate before them. Steaming platters of food, balanced on fingertips of servers, moved in a dance around the table, dipping from time to time to fill a guest's plate.

One large plate contained a Great Hen stuffed with rosemary and surrounded by an array of colorful honey-glazed fruits. Another contained tender slices of bovine stacked next to mounds of mashed potatoes oozing with butter that puddled at the center, each looking like an erupting volcano. Dishes of spicy carrots and onions, baskets of fragrant bread, bowls of cooked cabbage and other hot vegetables floated around, weaving in and out and landing on filling plates. Drinks and wine flowed freely. Soft tones plotting secret meetings mingled in with loud conversations of highborn guest that were trying to attract noble notice.

It turns out that chocolate is also the king's favorite food and the banquet is finished off with a large chocolate cake. King Arvast and Rowyna now have something in common, and she plots accordingly. Relieved about the quality of the available food, she can now turn her attention to romance, betrayal, survival and a coming war.

Oh yummy… Sometimes too tasty a description of food might make the reader hungry. The writer has to be careful not to make the reader put the book down and go off to find a snack…but right now a bite of chocolate or a piece of cheese sound much too tempting for me. I'll be back later.

The sequel: A Dangerous Talent for Time is also available on Amazon.com in Paperback and Kindle, iPad and others, Barnes and Noble Nook, as well as Smashwords multiple format platform. Also look out for the upcoming 3rd installment: Cosmic Entanglement

Friday, November 25, 2011

Ah yes, Thanksgiving. Nothing says the holidays like sitting around a fully decked out dining room table with mouthwatering temptations waiting to be gobbled up. Everyone waits anxiously for the big reveal… the turkey!

Lovingly prepared since early that morning, the turkey is brought out in a covered, silver serving platter. Aunt Edith smacks little Tommy’s hand as he attempts to steal a candied yam dripping with marshmallow. The collective breath is held as the silver cover is removed… revealing… a zombie turkey!

What—what? That’s right folks, this year, we are celebrating this American holiday paranormal style. And what says paranormal holiday better than a walking, talking zombie turkey? This zombie turkey brings you important tidings of great prizes that shall be for all people… who participate and win of course. November 25-27 you could win up to $200 in prizes!

Three days. Four YA paranormal books. Five chances to win!

And who are these crazy paranormal authors? Check them out. It’s like the
Nightmare Before Christmas, Thanksgiving style!

Emlyn Chand, Author of Farsighted
“Psychic or not, you’ll never see the end for this one coming! Emlyn Chand is pioneering ‘the next big thing’ for YA.” ~ Emily Reese, author of Second Death
Alex Kosmitoras may be blind, but he can still “see” things others can’t. When his unwanted visions of the future begin to suggest that the girl he likes could be in danger, he has no choice but to take on destiny and demand it reconsider.Monster Mash: Emlyn says… I. AM. WEREWOLF! And why’s that you ask? First off, my name (Chand) literally means moon in Sanskrit. Next, werewolves are super cool–we can blend in with common folk, and then out of nowhere, kapow! I’m a werewolf, and I sure am hungry. Lastly, Team Jacob 100%. Now excuse me while I cock back my head and howl at my namesake.

Patti Larsen, Author of Family Magic
“Patti Larsen is truly gifted because I read Family Magic cover to cover and I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for the next installment!” ~ from Goodreads review
Sixteen-year-old Sydlynn Hayle is the daughter of a powerful witch and a demon lord, but she just wants to be ordinary. When her coven comes under attack, Syd must face the fact only her power can save her family’s magic.Monster Mash: Patti says… I am a witch. Naturally. I weave spells with my words, cast incantations from my keyboard, mix up the very best potions in my cauldron of documents. You want to stay on my good side. Trust me. Unless you enjoy waking up as something… unnatural.

Kimberly Kinrade, Author of Forbidden Mind
“Forbidden Mind is a thrilling, dark and deeply romantic read that had me sitting on the edge of my seat and eagerly awaiting the next installment.” ~Refracted Light Young Adult Book Reviews
Paranormal teens with unimaginable powers. An evil organization with deep secrets. When Sam, a girl who reads minds, meets a boy who controls minds, she discovers her future isn’t what she thought. Together they must escape and free the others… or risk losing everything—and everyone—they love.Monster Mash: Kimberly says… I may look like a demon, but I’m actually a succubus. Enchanting and seductive, I weave stories that will fuel your passions and make you fall in love. But be warned… once you fall under the spell of my words, your world will never be the same.

John Corwin, Author of The Next Thing I Knew
Corwin does a phenomenal job of including humor throughout this novel. This book was like . . . Ghost (the movie) meets The Host (by Stephanie Meyer) meets MIB (Men In Black the movie). ~Maryann, Chapter by Chapter
The afterlife is the last thing on Lucy’s mind until she and every other human on the planet drop dead and find themselves in the hereafter. Lucy drags her social life back from the grave and enlists her friends to figure out the rules of the afterlife and, more importantly, to discover who or what killed everyone and why anyone would do such a mean thing.Monster Mash: John says… I am a ninja. After all, vampires are simply ninjas with fangs. They can hide in plain sight, right in your living room. Jump out and scare the wits out of you. Drop a smoke bomb and poof! All you’re left with is stinky smoke in your house and soiled underclothes.

* * * * * * * * * * *

The Prizes

Four $25 Book Entries: For each of the four books in the contest, you can enter to win $25 (up to $100 in giveaways!) Simply buy a copy of the book and email the proof of purchase for that book OR submit the first sentence of the fifth chapter for that book to ParanormalTurkey@gmail.com. Winners will be chosen randomly. Each person can submit one entry per book. Here are the links for each book:

And… if you buy all FOUR books, you are entered to win the Grand Prize!

AND during this event, all books are priced at 99 CENTS!

The Grand Prize

One randomly selected reader who enters to win all four book prizes (Family Magic, Farsighted, Forbidden Mind and The Next Thing I Knew) will win the grand prize of $100.
So go on now and pick up a copy of these fantastic paranormal reads before the zombie turkey eats you!
What? Still around? Then enjoy these fun book trailers and Paranormal Turkey Tour trailer. (Then go buy the books.) Also, leave a comment and help your favorite blog host win a $50 prize!

Notes:

All winners will be chosen randomly using random.org.

Amazon links are provided, but books purchased through any online vendor will qualify with proof of purchase.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

My son asked me to do this week’s post on the same book he’s doing his book report on, so, for his 7th birthday*, I’m taking on a middle-grade pick.

Sixth-grader Susan Simmons is immediately put-off by substitute teacher Mr. Smith because he’s replacing her favorite teacher, Ms. Schwartz, for the rest of the year. He doesn’t win any points with her when he announces he intends to straighten the class out, either, because, as Susan points out: you know how boring a straight line is. And the fact that he hates music so much that he literally shivers every time picks up her piccolo to leave for her lesson completely solidifies her feelings.

Yet, none of those are the reason she follows him home after class…all the way into his house. She’s actually there to stealthily retrieve a note he confiscated from her in class, and only opens his door when she hears an inexplicable but horrible shrieking inside. Turns out, Mr. Smith isn’t being tortured (or torturing someone else) as Susan feared; he’s only enjoying the “music” of his mother planet. That’s right; Susan even watches him peel off his fake human face to “call home” on his special monitor.

It takes little convincing for her friend Peter to declare the need for a return visit/further investigation, and that’s where my favorite part comes in:

Looking for evidence that Mr. Smith is indeed an alien, Peter goes straight to…the kitchen! “Who knows what they eat on the planet he comes from?” he asks.

Exactly what I would’ve thought and done!

They scope out Mr. Smith’s fridge and find (typical of the bachelor he is…or pretends to be): cold cuts, a half-empty carton of milk, a bottle of catsup, and two six-packs of beer. Peter astutely notes, “He sure doesn’t eat like an alien.”

But even though everything looks innocent enough, Peter’s not done; he insist[s] on checking the cupboards. He even open[s] the peanut butter jar to see if it really ha[s] peanut butter in it, and not some kind of extraterrestrial goo.

Atta boy, Peter; way to teach readers to leave no stone unturned and no jar unopened! And also for showing any aliens who read this book that their worthiest human adversaries may not be the biggest and tallest ones. ;)

*Who’m I kidding? His birthday has nothing to do with it; I’d do anything for that kid, anytime. <3

Thursday, November 17, 2011

This hop, organized by All-Consuming Books and I Am A Reader, Not A Writer, features almost 300 (!) participating blogs offering book-related giveaways! We're all linked up together so you can hop easily from one giveaway to another; see the full list here: Gratitude Giveaways Hop.

Winner here at BWATE? gets a Signed Copy of either:
"Solid" (Solid Series Book #1) or "Settling" (Solid #2)

To enter to win, just follow this blog and leave a comment/question,
along with a way to contact you.

PLEASE NOTE: This hop is different than other previous giveaways!

Since this is a way to thank followers (not ask them to do stuff ;), there is only ONE entry per person, which you get by FOLLOWING THIS BLOG
(GFC or Networked Blogs).

AND to further show my thanks for your support, I will send a bookmark
to every person who follows this blog and enters the giveaway!

Giveaway runs from Nov. 17 to Nov. 27; last day to enter is Sunday, Nov. 27.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Ever since we were kids, we’ve had our likes and dislikes when it comes to food. We’ve tried many things growing up, and by adulthood we’ve pretty much separated the food we like from the food we don’t like. But what happens if you’re an adult and you don’t know what you like? What happens if you’ve not tried many things in your life because you just arrived on the planet? That’s what characters experience in Sue’s Fingerprint.

What do I mean by ‘just arrived’? Eleven people are cloned—exactly copied—from other people by an alien goo that suddenly appears on Earth. (You’ll have to read the book to get the details.) The clones arrive with no prior knowledge and no prior memories. (No clothes either!) Without any past experiences, the clones have to learn about themselves and the world around them, including what foods they like and don’t like.

I tried to make the discovery of food a noticeable theme in Sue’s Fingerprint. It’s not the most important, but it is a key aspect of personal discovery for the clones.

While ‘contained’ by DHS on an unused military base, the staff members assigned to observe and assist the new people help the clones discover what foods they might like. Their first lunch at the base is pizza. Consensus: cheese pizza is boring. But they do like sausage, pepperoni and deluxe. For dinner, they experience PB&J and the roof-of-your-mouth stickiness it offers. They also learn about popcorn; “I want to see how popcorn pops itself inside out.” The clones agree that popcorn is fun and delicious, especially with lots of butter.

When the staff members at the base suggest burgers for dinner, Sue explains that she already had a hamburger and didn’t like it. It was too sweet from the ‘stuff’ she had on it.

“You know you can change the stuff you put on hamburgers, right?” a staff member asks her.

“You can???”

“You can put just about anything on a burger.”

So the clones have a dinner of sliders with many topping options so they can try different combinations to decide what they like. And what does Sue like best? Mustard. Onions, pickles and cheese are good too. She also likes the spicy heat of salsa.

During all this new food exploration, one clone, Sue, decides she’d like to try cooking. With guidance from the staff, she begins to experiment with breakfast. The meal that started simply with Fruit Loops (their favorite cereal) expands to scrambled eggs, toast, pancakes and coffee. The adults gather in Sue’s kitchen each morning to sample and critique her cooking. Eggs are much better with salt. And butter makes everything taste better. Donald doesn’t care for cream in his coffee, but Martha has to have it. Martha must also have her cup of coffee waiting for her, Sue finds out, or she’ll be cranky. (Martha becomes a coffee addict. And the local barista!) Sue not only refines her palate as the weeks pass, but she also becomes a good chef. With help from her ‘sous chefs’ (two staff members) Sue prepares big meals for everyone at the base. And her passion shapes the rest of her life.

Discovering what foods they like and dislike, and, for Sue and Martha, how much they like to prepare food is just one part of the personal development for the clones in Sue’s Fingerprint. What you and I figured out over many years growing up, the clones have to learn quickly.

Read what else the clones learn and discover. Get yourself a copy of Sue’s Fingerprint to meet the clones and find out what ultimately happens to them!

Thank you Shelley for the opportunity to guest blog here on But What Are They Eating! And good luck to you and your Solid series!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

I recently reviewed this oldie-but-goodie for Zompacolypse 2011 at Paranormal Wastelands, but I couldn't resist taking a FoodFic look at it, too!

The characters in this book don’t eat much; they’re rural Lousianans going about their daily lives, leaving behind houses with the lingering aroma of hotcakes and bacon from breakfast or putting pie in the oven and a pot of coffee on for a friend who’s coming over. One foursome does smoke pot, which is a dead giveaway that they’re done for as per Rule # 2 from the kid in Scream (only topped by Rule # 1 – don't have sex – which this group is also doing when they bite it).

Oh, and one guy briefly mentions the hamburger he ate last night that’s about to resurface after he witnesses a chest cavity full of cockroaches on the autopsy table. Yum.

But the main meals aren’t being eaten by the humans; they are the humans. And the roaches are eating them clear to the bone, leaving remains so stark they glow in the dark.

One character notes (before they even know what they’re dealing with):

A roach will eat almost anything. They’ve even been known to eat the eyelashes and eyelids from sleeping people.

Who knew?

We’ve all heard that cockroaches are the one thing that can survive a nuclear blast; that if life were to be annihilated in all forms, they’d remain. I used to wonder what they’d eat once they found themselves in such a barren landscape; I guess now I have my answer – anything it takes to survive.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Have you ever bitten into a slice of blueberry pie and heard the taste?

How about sniffing a flower and seeing the aroma as a brilliant flash of light in a color you can’t describe?

People whose senses overlap and intertwine like this are called synesthetes, and the protagonist in my Child Finder trilogy has synesthesia in a big way. Air Force Special Agent S. O’Donnell is a synesthete, but he’s also a gifted psychic with an uncanny ability to find missing children. Very often, these two synergetic gifts work together to enhance his child rescue operations.

In Child Finder: Revelation (the conclusion to the trilogy, due for release Nov. 1, 2011), Agent O’Donnell will need to muster all the clues his synesthesia and mind-reading skills can offer. Here’s a short synopsis:

North Korean terrorists stage a brazen attack on the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, nabbing his twin daughters in the assault. The eight-year-old girls are powerful psychics with amazing extrasensory gifts, which is why the North Koreans abducted them. Only one man can rescue the girls: Air Force Special Agent Patrick O’Donnell, the government’s top agent with psychic abilities of his own that will prove crucial in locating the Ambassador’s daughters deep inside North Korea. But there’s more…

There’s a mystery about the twins that has both the President of the United States and the Pope rattled. No one is telling O’Donnell what it is, but one thing is abundantly clear: he must rescue the girls and bring them back to America with an urgency he’s never experienced before.

Will Agent O’Donnell be successful in rescuing the Ambassador’s daughters? Will he be able to unravel the intrigue between the Oval Office and the Vatican? Perhaps O’Donnell will receive a revelation that will explain everything…maybe even something he wishes he never knew.

Here’s an excerpt from the novel that showcases O’Donnell’s synesthesia and psychic ability working in conjunction:

His scenes twisted and twirled together. He tried to see with his ears in this dream, or feel shape from the odor his nose sniffed, or even hear color and taste. Right at that moment, as he stood in Kim Jong-il’s dining room, the smells from that night at the Jordans’ dinner party hit his brain. The pungent, red pepper cabbage kimchi smacked his neurons at a high rate of speed, causing his brain to hear the hot pepper taste. It sounded sharp and loud to his tongue, not as rounded as it was during dinner at the Jordans’.

There’s plenty of Korean food in this story. I have traveled through the Far East, spending almost three years in Korea alone, so I know the food and the tastes and smells that come with it. Between sticky rice in sizzling stone bowls to fish head soup, kimchi cabbage and more red pepper than all of Mexico, food is a main element in this story. Combine that with a protagonist who experiences taste in 3D and you have a unique reading experience. The fact that it’s also a thriller completes the “recipe” for a fun and entertaining read that may even reveal a few secrets Uncle Sam doesn’t want you to know…after all, a senior Department of Defense official said it’s “the most dangerous book ever written!”

Friday, October 28, 2011

This hop, organized by Paranormal Wastelands, features some super blogs offering scarily super giveaways! Since I already reviewed my scariest read over there, and since my series isn't all that scary, I decided to emphasize the super with mine: